My Stuck Story

Thank you for being here.

In this post, I'm supposed to tell you a mind-blowing story about my life. A story that compels you to tell anyone who will listen how wild, crazy, and - eventually - triumphant my life is.

This story is supposed to be so inspirational that it arouses a strong desire to take massive freakin’ action…

But the truth is, well, my story is likely a lot like yours.

• Boring.

• Predictable.

• Safe.

• And my own doing.

It likely won’t achieve the aforementioned goal I shared above, but I do think it will hit you in the feels and resonate with you.

I spent the first 29 years of my life living on auto-pilot.

• Playing small.

• Checking boxes.

• Doing what I was expected to do.

• Living for others.

Can you relate?

Don’t get me wrong: I had a full say in all that I did and enjoyed a wonderful, blessed life that I am - and will forever be - grateful for.

But the truth is, I had no awareness of who I was.

What I wanted.

Or, at least what I didn't want.

As the oldest of four, I left childhood behind at the age of 10 and stepped into the shoes of the “responsible older brother role model.”

From this day forward, I began to consciously and unconsciously dedicate myself to making my parents proud by fulfilling the responsibility they bestowed upon me.

And, to be frank, this led to a great life due to the work ethic, discipline, and level of maturity it forced me to develop.

The problem, however, is it took me 19 years to recognize that I was checking boxes to live the life my parents had wanted for me. I was doing this instead of slowing down and gaining clarity on what I wanted, let alone, who I was.

I had the traditional path of the American Dream in my sights and was doing an excellent job hitting each marker in a timely fashion…

• I graduated college at 21 and earned my Master’s at 23.

• Got a kick-ass job working with elite athletes at 23.

• I met my eventual wife at 23.

As I write this, wow, age 23 was pretty damn good!

My wife and I proceeded to move around the country together, to spend two months in Europe, and eventually…

• Rescued a dog,

• bought a house,

• and began discussing having kids.

Until, um, well, yeah, I kind of fucked that up…

I was your stereotypical, oldest child doing everything he could to please his parents.

I went to a good college, went to graduate school, got a great first job, met a woman, moved in together, got married, got a dog, all the house, and was well on my way to plan to take the next step to have children and live a life happily ever after.

Except I wasn’t happy.

I was stuck, confused, alone, isolated, misunderstood, and because of all that, angry and frustrated as hell.

But in the midst of a pandemic, I found myself on a beach with a dear friend and not another soul in sight.

Little did I know, that this July beach day would drastically alter the trajectory of my life as I let the tab of acid rest gently and slowly dissolve underneath my tongue...

Since that day, I have...

• Been divorced and navigated to subsequent failed relationships,

• Left a company that provided more than 90% of my income to go out on my own,

• Earned hundreds of thousands of dollars, only to still find myself with occasional bouts of credit card debt,

• Moved for the 15th, 16th, 17th, and 18th time (you cannot make this shit up),

• and, as I write this, am in the middle of a massive shift in the direction of my career and how I wish to help people…after 14+ years, I'm a bit burnt out on the nutrition side of things.

But what’s lost in these highlights is the fact that I felt compelled to take these actions for a long time. In fact, I tried to end my marriage almost a year prior to actually asking for a divorce. And, I’d been talking, thinking, and dreaming about officially working for myself for nearly three years.

This lull - this period of stuckness - produces an indescribable amount of pain.

I’ve felt stuck in my life in multiple areas.

• I have felt stuck in my marriage (and two subsequent relationships).

• I have felt stuck financially, both at the same annual income, as well as with the same amount of what felt like impossible to pay off credit card debt.

• I have felt stuck in a work-specific commitment, whether that be a new project, adventure, or opportunity.

• And, at 32 years old, I felt stuck due to uncertainty in what I wanted to do and how I wanted to live my life.

And, in each situation, there was a common theme: fear.

Despite what I would label, chaotic, unpredictable, and the toughest, three years of my life, I have learned an incredible amount related to how to begin to unstuck myself.

The purpose of this newsletter is to share with you more insight - about what I've learned and what I've done to unstuck myself.

This will include learning lessons gleaned from my own mistakes, as well as what I've learned from dozens of books, mentors, and courses.

It is my goal to provide you with an insane amount of value and a tangible action step or two in each weekly newsletter. If I ever fail to achieve that goal, know that you cannot only let me know at any time, but that you can also unsubscribe at any time.

You may catch up on previous newsletters here.

Thank you for reading and thank you for being here.

Forever rooting for you,

Paul